WIRELESS DEVICE FOR DETERMINING DISTANCE AND DIRECTION RELATIVE TO A REMOTE NODE
An agent supportable device determines location-identification data relative to a remote node using wireless communications. The device includes a wireless transceiver, at least one antenna, a processor, and memory storing instructions. The instructions cause the device to conduct a plurality of wireless communications with the remote node including transmitting and receiving multiple wireless communications. Communication variables are generated based on the wireless communications, including one or more of a time of transmission, a time of arrival, or a calculated transmission time. A distance between the device and the remote node and a direction of interest toward the remote node is determined based on characteristics of signals received through the antenna, including phase differences or angle-of-arrival measurements. Location-identification data including the distance and direction relative to the remote node is generated and may be provided to an application that presents directional information identifying the remote node relative to the device.
1 . An agent supportable device configured to determine location-identification data relative to a remote node, comprising:
a wireless transceiver;
at least one antenna coupled to the wireless transceiver;
a processor; and
a memory storing instructions that when executed by the processor cause the agent supportable device to:
a. wirelessly communicate with the remote node through the wireless transceiver;
b. conduct a plurality of wireless communications with the remote node including transmitting and receiving multiple wireless communications between the agent supportable device and the remote node;
c. generate communication variables based upon the plurality of wireless communications, the communication variables including at least one of:
a time of transmission of a wireless communication,
a time of arrival of the wireless communication, or
a calculated transmission time;
d. determine a distance between the agent supportable device and the remote node based upon the communication variables;
e. determine a direction of interest toward the remote node based upon characteristics of signals received through the at least one antenna; and
f. generate location-identification data including the distance and the direction of
interest relative to the remote node.
2 . The agent supportable device of claim 1 wherein the instructions cause the agent supportable device to transmit a first wireless communication to the remote node and receive a second wireless communication from the remote node.
3 . The agent supportable device of claim 2 wherein the instructions further cause the agent supportable device to transmit a subsequent wireless communication to the remote node after receiving the second wireless communication.
4 . The agent supportable device of claim 1 wherein determining the distance includes calculating a propagation time based upon timing information associated with the plurality of wireless communications.
5 . The agent supportable device of claim 1 wherein determining the direction of interest includes evaluating phase differences between signals received across multiple antennas of the agent supportable device.
6 . The agent supportable device of claim 1 wherein determining the direction of interest includes determining an angle of arrival of a wireless communication received from the remote node.
7 . The agent supportable device of claim 1 wherein the instructions cause the plurality of wireless communications to be conducted using ultra-wideband wireless signals.
8 . The agent supportable device of claim 1 wherein the instructions further cause the agent supportable device to repeat the plurality of wireless communications to update the location-identification data.
9 . The agent supportable device of claim 1 wherein generating the location-identification data includes generating relative position coordinates representing a location of the remote node relative to the agent supportable device.
10 . The agent supportable device of claim 1 wherein generating the location-identification data includes generating relative orientation information representing the direction of interest toward the remote node.
11 . The agent supportable device of claim 1 wherein the instructions further cause the agent supportable device to generate a vector representing a spatial relationship between the agent supportable device and the remote node.
12 . The agent supportable device of claim 1 wherein the communication variables further include a phase difference between signals received by multiple antennas.
13 . The agent supportable device of claim 12 wherein the communication variables further include a calculated angle based upon the phase difference between antennas.
14 . The agent supportable device of claim 1 wherein the plurality of wireless communications occur during a ranging session between the agent supportable device and the remote node.
15 . The agent supportable device of claim 1 wherein determining the distance and determining the direction of interest are performed using separate signal processing operations.
16 . The agent supportable device of claim 1 wherein the instructions further cause the agent supportable device to communicate the location-identification data to a smart device application executing on the agent supportable device.
17 . The agent supportable device of claim 16 wherein the smart device application generates a graphical user interface including a directional indicator representing the direction of the remote node.
18 . The agent supportable device of claim 17 wherein the graphical user interface further includes a representation of the distance between the agent supportable device and the remote node.
19 . The agent supportable device of claim 1 wherein the location-identification data includes distance information and directional information derived from the plurality of wireless communications.
20 . The agent supportable device of claim 1 wherein the instructions cause the agent supportable device to determine relative position and relative orientation of the agent supportable device with respect to the remote node.